Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Winter Week 7: Mentoring Undergraduates in Research

Research-oriented
universities provide students with rigorous training in scientific research but
not equivalent experience to teach their knowledge and skills to the next
generation of students in their own fields. Some of us might have had
opportunities to mentor undergraduates and experienced the fact that the
process of developing an effective method of mentoring takes years and requires
experimenting and analyzing success and failure. No two students are the same
or develop along the same trajectory, so mentoring must be continually customized,
adjusted, and redirected to meet each student’s needs. Throughout this workshop
we discussed about mentoring approaches, brainstormed ideas and shared mentoring
challenges and solutions with each other to accelerate our learning process.

We started
off by asking what does mentoring mean to everyone or what is the definition of
a mentor? A mentor is someone who takes
a special interest in helping another person develop into a successful
professional.

The workshop
was divided into three main parts:

I.Prior
to getting started/early on during the mentoring process:

During the
first meeting with your mentee, take some time to introduce the lab you work in
and the relevant projects. A good mentee is expected to check the lab website
and do a bit of research before the meeting. This is a good opportunity to
start connecting with the mentee by engaging in a pleasant discussion and answer
some of the questions addressed to you. Show your enthusiasm about the project
and talk about the big picture. Most projects do not yield an immediate result
which sometimes discourages students. Being aware of their potential
contribution to the long term success of the project keeps students
enthusiastic.

Get to know your students. Give them a chance to describe
themselves, their hobbies, likes and dislikes. Try to understand their
background and habits. For example how do they learn best? Each might have
different preference like hands on experience, reading literature about a
topic, verbal explanation, process diagrams etc.

Undergraduates
are young and potentially unexperienced. Make them feel comfortable around you.
Encourage them to ask questions. Remember that pleasant and enthusiastic
working environment and happy students are the keys for them to acquire successful
and reproductive learning experience.

Another
important concept that we discussed in this context is defining your working
relationship and making your expectations clear early one. It will be helpful
to provide real examples from your relationships with previous undergraduates
who worked with you. For example “I expect my students to take some
responsibility regarding the project, keep organized notebook, present their
findings to the lab members, show interest, be curious and never refrain from
asking questions and for clarifications. As pointed out above, mentoring is a
very dynamic process. Mentors are expected to modify their expectations if
necessary based on their previous experiences.

At this stage
and assuming the mentee has agreed to work with you, start to get them
acquainted with the new environment. Introduce them to the lab members, show
them the facilities in the building, discuss lab policies, and get them started
on a lab notebook. ALWAYS keep communications open between you and the mentee.
This is extremely helpful in terms of identifying problems early on. Ask them
how they feel. If you notice that they seem distracted or sense decline in
their enthusiasm try to understand the reason.

Knowing your
student will be of paramount importance when it comes to choosing their
project. Whenever possible, let them have a say in the process of assigning
them their project. An interesting point was brought up during our discussion
as some of us mentioned that usually at the early phase mentors ask students to
do “boring” stuff and feel bad about it. Remember that something that you think
is “boring” might be perceived differently by another person. That being said
the opposite is true. Mentors should be cautious as something what they think
as “very exciting” might not be so for someone else. Again knowing your student
and keeping the communication open comes in play.

II.During the mentoring process

At this point
nurture the mentor-student relationship so that it is based on TRUST and
RESPECT. Again always remember that the students are young, usually
inexperienced in the research environment and require your constant attention. Show
compassion and don’t make them feel neglected. Whenever possible, engage in
brief casual conversation; ask about their progress in their courses, offer
them time off before midterms and major assignments. Simple things that can
help you get their respect and hopefully make them devote to their projects
yielding optimal learning experience.

Another
important point that led to vigorous discussion was the negative results or
failures in research which though seems like breakfast, lunch and dinner for an
experienced researcher might be very discouraging for undergraduates. Always
remind students that negative results are part of any research project. Explain
them that one can learn far more from couple of negative results or failures
followed by success compared to immediate success. In the same context and in
an effort to alleviate the psychological distress from unsuccessful results,
always try to keep them motivated. For example, frequently remind them the
importance of the project they are working on or have them explain their
project to another member in the lab. Another motivation approach that we discussed
was letting the students “grow into” the challenge. In other words motivate or
push them to do their best. For example if you get “x” to work, you can do “y”.

Lastly, let
them know early on if you are not happy with their performance. This sounds
like unpleasant thing to do but it can be done very nicely. Always start by
pointing out their good habits and accomplishment and then hit them with your
concerns. For example, “So far you did a great job in “XYZ” which shows your
capability and willingness to work hard. However, I’m noticing that you are
doing careless mistakes that can be easily avoided. I know you can do much
better than what you did in WVX during the last two week”.

III.How
to assess your success as mentor?

Assessing
your success as a mentor can be difficult as the process is mostly subjective.
Through our discussions we decided that creating measurable objectives ahead of
time and evaluating them in the student before and after the mentoring process
can be a good way to tackle this problem. The measurable goals could be things
we value like demonstrating professional attitude, ability to present work in
both formal and informal context, problem solving skills, being persistent in
making the project go forward, among others.

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